President Donald Trump speaks to service members at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019, in Anchorage, Alaska., during a refueling stop as he returns from Hanoi. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Trump 2020 budget seeks $8.6B for wall

Top Democrats called the proposed cuts to essential services “dangerous.”

President Donald Trump’s budget chief confirms that the president will ask Congress for $8.6 billion for his proposed wall along the U.S. border with Mexico as part of his 2020 budget proposal.

Russ Vought, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, says the “the border situation is deteriorating by the day” with “record numbers of apprehensions.” The $8.6 billion is in addition to the billions of dollars Trump seeks to secure for the wall through the national emergency at the border he declared last month.

Vought, speaking on CNBC, says the proposed budget will also have cuts in discretionary spending, such as foreign aid and in welfare “reforms.” He added that the White House also wants “reforms” to student loans and federal retirement programs.

Vought said, “Many of the reforms that we have are not what we would call a cut. Many of them are savings and reforms to make programs work better.”

Democrats aren’t buying it. The chairman of the House Budget Committee, congressman John Yarmuth of Kentucky, calls the proposed cuts to essential services “dangerous.”

.@realDonaldTrump hurt millions of Americans and caused widespread chaos when he recklessly shut down the government to try to get his expensive and ineffective wall, which he promised would be paid for by Mexico. pic.twitter.com/YtljS96gcD

Congress’ top Democrats, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate leader Chuck Schumer, predict that Trump’s latest demand for border wall money will result in another defeat for the president. They say the money would be better spent on rebuilding the country.